It was written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to Rishikesh in northern India, where they were studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

And I helped him with a couple of lines, "Seashell eyes / windy smile" – for the Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland feel that John loved so much.

While Paul McCartney made several "solo" recordings attributed to the group, dating back to his famous song "Yesterday", this is the only time that Lennon played and sang unaccompanied on a Beatles track.

[5] Their relationship began to improve as he neared adolescence, though, and in the words of his half-sister, Julia Baird: As he grew older, John would stay with us more often.

John inherited his love of music from her, and she encouraged him to start with piano and banjo, making him play a tune again and again until he got it right.

"[5] The song was also written for his future wife Yoko Ono, whose first name, which literally means "child of the sea" in Japanese, is echoed in the lyric "Oceanchild, calls me.

[8] Personnel per Ian MacDonald:[9] "Julia" was originally released as the final song on side two of The Beatles on 22 November 1968.

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its release, Jacob Stolworthy of The Independent listed "Julia" at number 13 in his ranking of the White Album's 30 tracks.